The U.S. embassy in Trinidad and Tobago faced criticism after proudly announcing that it had donated 80 vials of the Pfizer vaccine to the country.
Trinidad and Tobago has a population of approximately 1.4 million people.
The 80 vials would mean that around 280 islanders could be fully vaccinated — a total of 480 doses.
According to its Ministry of National Security, they are grateful for all. It did not disclose the size of the delivery. However, the U.S. embassy filled said its donation included 80 vials of the vaccine.
Last month, Trinidad and Tobago imposed a state of emergency to contain an increase of COVID-19 cases and related deaths. Almost 30,000 have tested positive for COVID-19, while just under 700 civilians have died from the virus.
“Our healthcare system is now in danger of (being) overrun because of the rate of infection we are experiencing,” Rowley said.
Prime Minister Keith Rowley said only essential services such as supermarkets, pharmacies and financial services would remain open for reduced hours. Shopping malls, cinemas, theaters, restaurants, bars, places of worship, beauty salons and fitness centers were all shut down.
More than 2.39 billion doses have been administered across 178 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. In the U.S., 311 million doses have been given so far.
On Friday, President Joe Biden and other leaders of the G-7 and guest countries pledged to provide more than 1 billion additional COVID-19 vaccine doses for the world. The U.S. committed to donating 500 million of the vaccine doses.
